Reading On The Subway? Careful, CoverSpy Is Watching

Looks like a good book (nelly sight's flickr).

One of the great pleasures of commuting on mass transit—as opposed to driving, walking or even, gasp, biking—is that it affords you time to do a little reading. Some read the paper, some read magazines, some read on their phones (we love you Instapaper!) and a massive amount of people read old fashioned books. And for that last group, CoverSpy is watching.

The gist of the Tumblr, which comes from the folks at Slice Magazine, is simple: They note the books people they see are reading, what those people are wearing and where what train they were riding. And boy do New Yorkers read a wide variety of books. CoverSpy has spied with its little eyes everything from The Fountainhead and Infinite Jest to The Dirty Divorce 2 and Falling For His Proper Mistress. And much more.

Meanwhile, this is totally why we've slowly been moving towards reading e-books. Harder for subway spies to know what we're reading! Not that they don't note Kindle readers, too. [via The Paris Review]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in Arts & Entertainment on June 29, 2011 4:30 PM

Comments [rss]

Tim McKiernan

how about that dick with his feet up on what looks like an obviously crowded A C or E

Guest

What does what a person is wearing have anything to do with the book they are reading?

Judging a book by its cover is the easiest way to be disappointed in life, especially in this town.

Tom Fitzsimmons

somebody needs to kick that assclown's feet off the seat

BK

oh man- i was thinking the same shit. harry potter looking mofo

Miles Bader

Seriously, what a twat that guy is.

[If you reallllly want to put your feet on the seat, at least have the decency to remove your shoes first!]

Guest

I will proudly be displaying my copy of "Weird NJ" on the subway tonight. I know its not a book, but I don't have a very long commute (or attention span).

felixthecat

Read "Veganist"

PanBenek

Read the War with Hannibal by Livy

Real history and exciting

SuperWittySmitty

I read a lot of books on the train- sometimes wish my commute was longer. But I hate all of these bare feet, visible whenever my eyes gaze over the page. Except for the 20% or so of the population that have attractive feet, the rest should be covered up with shoes when appearing in public, unless you are at the park or the beach.

Paul Fitzpatrick

Spotted reading "One Hour Orgasm" on the downtown six train wearing a Fordham Law hat on March 30, 2011 at lunch time, between 59th and 42nd.

tsol

Ignatius Reilly has plans for Myrna Minkoff!

RabbiLaFunque

Get your feet off the fucking seat and get your fingers out of your mouth, you nasty little twerp!

Jeffrey Behrens

hahah EXACTLY

maatthias

That photo could double as a subway douchery photo.

Jeffrey Behrens

I was about to say, I want to take that guy laying across the seat (picking his teeth), and saw his fucking legs off.

edgie168

but those argyle socks are FABULOUS!

mmheidelberger

My thought exactly...

caspian915

The disadvantage of the Kindle (despite the fact that I admit I wouldn't mind owning one or an iPad), is that sure you can avoid people seeing what you're reading, but you also miss out on the random nice conversation or possible connection in the same way. It's not everyone's cup o' tea, but then again, I'm a bit of an extrovert. This may be a reason real bibliophiles don't want a kindle. They WANT to advertise what they're reading.

knayte

That was my big concern when I got a Kindle. What if I miss the chance that some beautiful stranger notices the book I'm reading, strikes up a conversation, and then boom, SOUL MATES.

But then I remember that in all my time reading old-fashioned books on the subway, no one has ever approached me about it.

*insert Forever Alone image